NEWS
City of Bowie sees massive damage from Friday night’s storm believed to be tornado
Shortly after 8 p.m. Friday night a storm believed to be a tornado, swept through Bowie causing massive damage through downtown and in the south side of town.
Emergency responders from all over the county converged on the Bowie to help rescue people who were pinned in their home from collapsed roofs or where trees had fallen into their homes. Power was out across the city and while it came up for parts of the city around 4 a.m. it was out again after 6 a.m.
Bowie Police Chief Guy Green said Saturday morning as far as they know there have been no major injuries or fatalities. Citizens are urged to check in with friends and family to make sure they are safe and accounted for.
City officials were already meeting with state emergency management officials early Saturday to initiate a response.
Mayor Gaylynn Burris said early estimates show at least 50 businesses damaged and at least that many houses. She expects that number to escalate.
Here are are some preliminary basics:
National Weather Service personnel were expected Saturday to examine the storm damage and make a determination if it actually was a tornado.
The Texas Department of Emergency Management is in the city helping coordinate activities. They are sending instant management teams who will help coordinate things like removing debris.
Bryan Texas Utilities is sending six crews to assist electric crews to restore power. The initial estimate has about 400 power poles damaged. People on the south side of town are not expected to have power within the next 48 hours at least due to the damage.
Debris – Citizens are asked to place there debris such as tree limbs at the curbside near the street and they will be collected.
Lake Amon Carter is closed. The lake is at 926.04, more than six feet above full level.
A press conference is planned for Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.
The second community meeting on needs for an emergency room or hospital in Bowie is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Nov. 19 at the Bowie Community Center.
This is the second meeting to discuss these needs following the closure of the Faith Community Health Center emergency room on Oct. 6, just shy of a year of operation. More than 200 people attended that first meeting, where discussion centered on the creation of a taxing district to support any sort of medical facility.
Citizens in the Bowie area are encouraged to attend and take part in these discussions.
The Bowie City Council has moved its Nov. 18 meeting to 6 p.m. on Nov. 19 where three new council members will take the oath of office.
Councilors include Laura Sproles, precinct two, Brandon Walker, precinct one and Laramie Truax, precinct two. After the votes are canvassed and the oaths given, a mayor pro tem will be selected.
The new members will jump right into training as City Attorney Courtney Goodman-Morris provides an orientation and discussion of duties for council members.
City Manager Bert Cunningham will make his monthly report on the following topics: Nelson Street, which opened last Thursday, update on the sewer line replacement project, substation transformer placement and information on medical companies.
A closed executive session on the Laura McCarn vs. City of Bowie lawsuit is scheduled. The suit arose in November 2022 when the city broached selling some 25 acres it owns on Lake Amon G. Carter, originally part of the land purchased for the 500-acre Bowie Reservoir completed in 1985.
McCarn challenges the ownership of the property stating it should revert to the original owners since it was not used for the lake.
This 24.35 acre tract is located at the end of Indian Trail Road surrounded by the lake and the Silver Lakes Ranch subdivision.
One of Bowie’s major thoroughfares, Nelson Street, was reopened Thursday after one busy block has been closed since August 2021 when a section of the street failed.
Construction finally came to an end on Thursday when the street, including the Nelson and Mill intersection were reopened. Mayor Gaylynn Burris, City Manager Bert Cunningham, Councilors TJay McEwen and Stephanie Post, Engineer Mike Tibbetts and Public Works Director Stony Lowrance met at the site Thursday morning and removed the barricades. It only took a few minutes for vehicles to start arriving and drivers were excited to go through on the new roadway.
This section of Bowie has endured flooding and drainage problems for many years and in the summer of 2023 the city council finally bit the bullet and sought bids for the repair work expected to top $3 million. In August 2021 a one block section of Nelson was closed when a large sinkhole appeared on the north side of the street. Traffic had to be diverted including all the school traffic flowing from the nearby junior high and intermediate.
Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
Top photo – (Left) Mike Tibbetts, engineer with Hayter Engineering, talks with Bowie City Manager Bert Cunningham as they look over the massive drainage project on Nelson Street.
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